NEST's Kitty
by Pixie Star Fire
Summary: She was Sector Sevens biggest acomposishment. They were aliens from another planet. NEST brings them face-to-face for the first time. IronhideXOC friendship. My first attempt at a Transformer story! R&R Pre-RotF
1. Chapter 1

It was an average day at the NEST headquarters. Sam, Michaela, and Bumblebee had flown in from Tranquility to stay at Diego Garcia for the extent of summer vacation. Ratchet was in the medical bay fixing up Sideswipe and Sunstreaker after they got on Ironhides bad side. Said trigger-happy bot was blowing off steam and blowing stuff up in the shooting range. Optimus Prime, the leader of the Autobots, was in his office looking over yet another complait notice from another town destroyed in the crossfire of the hidden war between the Autobots and the evil Decepticons. Will Lennox and his friend Robert Epps where lazily shooting Nerf darts at a small target about fifty feet away. Everyone was bored, so tempers where running high.

Lennox cussed loudly as one of his foam bullets flew wide, but then quickly sobered when a large, armed cannon was pointed at him and Epps. The owner of said cannon was the weapon specialist, Ironhide. A bright neon orange Nerf dart produced from one of his chest plates.

"Watch your toys, Captain William Lennox." A British-accented voice filled the dead silent room.

Lennox nodded fiercely. "Yessir." He was never usually this polite, but one's point of view changes when faced with a cannon the size of a garbage can.

"Good." said Ironhide. He retracted his cannons and he moved on. Sam and Bumblebee snickered, but quieted when faced with Ironhides cannons.

A large, black armored vehicle pulled into the hanger doors, the word NEST standing out in white against its polished black surface. Everyone's gaze looked at the new vehicle. From the front seat, an old friend climbed out.

"John Keller." Optimus rumbled a greeting to the former Secretary of Defence. He nodded to the Autobot leader, before addressing the rest of the hanger's occupants.

"Humans and Autobots. Last week we finished scouring through Sector Seven's headquarters for any more secrets they may or may not have been hiding. Unfortunetly, there was something else they were hiding. She was subjected to the Cube's energy. We don't know how or why, Simmons refuses to talk. We have brought her here, to show her that she is not alone." Keller said.

Everyone looked in interest as the armored vehicle's doors burst open, revealing two SWAT team members struggling to contain what looked to be a large leopard. The two men grappled with the beast for a few moments, but released it when two large clawed paws pushed them off of the sleek-looking cat.

The humans and Autobots didn't see anything out of the ordinary with this cat, but Ratchet was running a scan on the cat. Sadly, the leopard noticed, whipping around to hiss at the offending medic.

"Magnificent." he mumbled and walked away.

"What's so magnificent about a leopard?" Lennox voiced his thoughts. Sam, Michaela, Epps, and Ironhide nodded in agreement. After a hiss from the accused leopard, it began to change.

The body lengthened, the muscles stretched. Everyone watched in amazement as the fur slowly retracted, revealing human skin and a leopard-print leotard underneath. The face fur retracted, the snout vanishing into the face, but the cat's nose and whiskers remained on the face. Auburn-brown hair cascaded down her back, pointed cat ears stuck plainly out of the tresses. A gymnasts body was clothed in a leopard-print leotard, the girls hands were furry and claw-tipped. Her legs were furry from knee-down, with powerful paws where her feet should have been. Carnivorous fangs replaced her canine teeth. All in all, the resulting cat-girl mutant looked about fourteen. The transformation lasted about thirty seconds.

The girl looked around at all of the gaping faces of the occupants of the hanger, and freaked. Her eyes welled up in tears, a freighted wail emitted from her mouth. With a leap and a bound, she scaled the post nearest to her and ran along the ceiling bar, cat style, away from the people-filled room. The gazes of the hanger's occupants followed her.

"That, my friends, is one sweet cat-girl!" Lennox said. Sam and Epps nodded, but Michaela and Optimus were more worried about how the cat girl had reacted to their presence. Ironhide had left to find her.

"Why did she act like that? What did Sector Seven do to her?" cried Michaela. Optimus added, "Was it the Autobots that frightened her?"

Keller answered, "I don't believe that it was the Autobots that frightened her. She suffers from extreme anxiety from living in a too-small dog crate for her entire life." Michaela gasped. _No wonder she is afraid of everyone… _Michaela thought.

Ironhide wondered out of the first NEST hanger and into the next adjacent hanger. His optics scanned the large room for any sign of the missing cat-girl. A small figure landed on his sholder, and his cannons fired up as soon as the furry legs of the girl hit his armor.

"Don't shoot! Don't hurt me! Please!" the cat-girl sobbed.

Ironhide swiveled is large head to get a better look at the girl. "You can talk?" he asked.

"Well, yeah. What did you expect? A mute mutant?" The girl laughed at her own joke. She puzzled Ironhide.

"Well, do you have a name then? I am Ironhide." Ironhide asked, and he immediately regretted it. The girls eyes teared up and her whiskers twitched. "No."

The answer started Ironhide. "Well, everyone should have a name. How about we call you Kitty?"

"OK." The plain answer was almost too quiet for Ironhides audio receptors.

"OK then, Kitty. Why did you run away from everyone in the hanger back there?" Ironhide wanted answers.

"There were humans. The humans at Sector Seven would hit me and experiment on me to make me into what I am now." With that statement, Kitty drooped under the weight of a thousand painful memories. Ironhide didn't know why, but his spark ached for this small girl.

"Kitty, no one in that room will hurt you, ever. Not when I'm still breathing. So let's go meet the others, shall we?" Kitty smiled at the giant robot and hopped off his shoulder. They walked, side by side, back into the occupied hanger for introductions.

**Authors Note: Please be nice, this is my first attempt at writing Transformers fanfiction. Reviews are welcome, flamers go on my death list.**


	2. Chapter 2

I don't own Transformer or any of the characters. All I own is Kitty.

"Speaking"

_Thoughts_

_**::Com links::**_

_[Bumblebee's radio]_

Because the humans where oh-so deep in discussion over the newly-named Kitty's anxiety issues, only the remaining Autobots notices Ironhides return with Kitty at his side. She was in her cat-girl form, but she ran on all four paws to keep up with Ironhide. Optimus smiled at the newly-found friendship between the war-hardened mech and the mutated cat-girl.

_**::She seems to be more comfortable around us Autobots…:: **_Ironhide said to the other Autobots in the hanger. Kitty was now running around in the rafters while the two species talked.

_**::It seems that she has taken a liking to you:: **_Optimus observed. _It's about time Ironhide had a new friend… _he thought. War was hard, and no one knew that better than Ironhide.

_**::It appears that she has. Oh, well. At least she is better than that rodent Sam calls a pet.:: **_Ironhide didn't know what to think of the small cat-girl. He felt bad that she had to live like that. _She could use a friend, so I will try to be a good one._ decided Ironhide.

_**::You've gone soft, Ironhide. Where is your strange squishy friend?:: **_Sunstreaker and Sideswipe said. They were playing with fire, and they knew it.

With a roar of pure, lethal rage, Ironhide's massive cannons whirred to life. The Lamborghini twin's morphed into their alt modes and prepared to run for their lives. Ironhide transformed to pursue, but instead of a door, a massive cannon was attached to the Topkicks side. He sped off, startling Kitty.

With a catlike screech, the small cat-girl fell off her perch fifty-some feet abouve the hard concrete floor. Everyone gasped as the small figure plummeted head-first towards certain doom. Everyone was frozen in fright, even the Autobots. About ten feet from the ground, her body twisted. She landed on her paws, stood up, and streached, showing no sign of any injury.

_[And here she is, folks! Let's give her a hand!]_ Bumblebee's radio blared, demolishing the silence. Kitty, looking around, realized that there where humans in the hanger still. She shrunk back, her eye's widening in fear. Seeing this, the humans tried to get her attention to show that they wouldn't hurt her. Out of everyone, Optimus acted the fastest, distracting the frightened cat-girl from the five humans in the room.

"Greetings. I am Optimus Prime, leader of the Autobots." He said. Kitty looked over his massive red-and-blue form and decided that she liked him. "Do you have a name?"

"I didn't at Sector Seven." she spat out, hate tingeing her words. "They called me C. They all hated me there, because I wasn't the perfect weapon. I would go without food for days at a time. But Ironhide came up with the name Kitty, so that is my name now."

Optimus smiled. "What am appropriate name. You have met my weapons specialist, Ironhide, already. That is Ratchet, my chief medical officer, over there." Ratchet didn't hear him, he was too busy analyzing Kitty's scans. "That is Bumblebee, he is Sam's guardian." Bumblebee waved at Kitty, who was now sitting in the palm of Optimus's hand. "Sunstreaker and Sideswipe are twins, they are currently being chased by Ironhide. You will be introduced when they come back." Kitty turned and smiled at him. He placed her on the ground so the humans could introduce themselves. Kitty morphed into her leopard form.

Sam and Michaela moved forward. Michaela smiled and crouched down to look the frightened leopard in the eyes. "I'm Michaela, and this is my boyfriend Sam. Bumblebee is our Guardian. That is Will Lennox and Rodert Epps, leaders of NEST." The two grown men smiled. "We will never hurt you, you're safe with us."

Kitty hissed. "That's what they all say. They always do hurt me." The leopard bolted and ran for the open hanger door. The humans tried to catch her, but she outmaneuvered them, sending the teens and Army solders crashing into one another. While the Autobots where helping their human comrades, Kitty made her escape. Or tried to at least.

Sunny and Sides where laughing over the fact that Ironhide couldn't last them to Cybertron and back because of Optimus. They looked up at the yellow streak that was bolting towards them. Sunny bent over and grabbed the large cat by the scruff of its neck and held it to his face. The volume in the room dipped to near silence. The leopard wriggled and fought, but the metal fingers held fast. Sunny laughed at it, but sides sobered at the worried face of his leader.

"Look at it, so helpless!" chortled Sunstreaker.

"Let me go! Let me go, you, you, talking tin can!" the cat screeched. Sunny froze as the cat's body changed into a more human one. The eye's remained catlike, and hey glared daggers at the Autobot. _This must be the new arrival. But if this is the new arrival, this must be Ironhides new buddy. Oh,no. _thought Sunny. A whirring sound came from behind his head. Slowly, Sunny turned to come face-to-face with two massive cannons and a livid Ironhide.

"Put Kitty down." said Ironhide in his most threatening voice. He held out a hand, and Sunny deposited Kitty into it.

"Not the paint job! Anything but the paint job!" wailed Sunny. Kitty and Ironhide shared a look, a look that meant Sunny's doom was fast approaching. The evil look was turned on Sunny, who was slowly backing away. Ironhide followed him.

"Wha-what are you doing?" cried Sunny. Kitty grinned, and much to the amusement of the occupants of the hangar, she launched herself at Sunny. He ran around, trying in vain to dislodge the gleeful cat-girl who was wrecking havoc on his golden paint job with her claws. Finally, after thoroughly scratching up Sunny, Kitty gracefully leaped off his back and sat next to the one human she felt she could trust, Michaela.

"Yep. I can definitely like it here." Kitty said.

A few days after Kitty's arrival, Will thought it would be best if his wife meet Kitty, because Kitty seemed more comfortable around female's than males. So Sarah and Annabelle Lennox clambered out of Ironhide's alt mode. Will, seeing his three-year old daughter, ran up and hugged her. But over after he put her down, he looked at his wife.

"Why did you bring Anna? She could be hurt by Kitty!" Will cried. Sarah looked shocked.

"I thought you told 'Hide to have both of us come?" Two glares turned onto the GMC Topkick that was parked behind them. Before Sarah Lennox could unleash her NEST-wide feared rage onto the truck, a small voice cried out, "Kitty!"

The two parents turned to see their darling Annabelle stroking the large leopards head. It purred, then sat down on the floor Sphinx style. An unmistakable invitation to climb on. Annabelle laughed and clambered onto the cat's large back, and away they ran. Around in circles, all over the hanger, the cat and kid combo shocked everyone. After a tight figure-eight, Will had had enough.

"Kitty! Come back here!" Will shouted. The cat leaped high in the air and morphed, so when she landed, Annabelle was riding a teen cat-girl.

Sarah leaned in to a dumbfounded Will and whispered, "I thought you said that Kitty was anti-social and might hurt Annabelle?" Will didn't answer. The large amount of clanking metal notified them that Ironhide had transformed. "Told you." He said as they watched the teen mutant continue to run around with an enthusiastic Annabelle on her shoulders. Anything was possible, they desided.

**Author's Note: Thank you for all of my wonderful reviewers and readers. So many of you have added NEST's Kitty to their favorite storys, so here you go! I couldn't help but add the last part . Next chapter, Cat-Girl meet I-Pod. I hope you enjoyed! Read and Review, flamers go on my death list! Thanks and a Happy Thanksgiving!**


	3. Chapter 3

Author's Note: Don't shoot me! School has no mercy, 4 hours of homework each night, ugh.. There is a poll at the bottom of the chapter! Please vote! ~Pixie Star Fire

In the weeks following Kitty's arrival at NEST, things began to settle down. Kitty was still wary of the men, Sam, Will, and Epps, but a friendship began to bloom between the cat-girl and Michaela. They would walk around the base and talk, or Michaela would watch in amazement as Kitty would run the length of the building in the rafters.

Kitty got along great with most of the Autobots, well, all except Sunstreaker. He still grumbled about "that cat ruining his paint job." But the most unusual friendship that Kitty had made was with the grumpy Weapons Specialist. They would walk around the base, Kitty perched on his ebony shoulder. He would take her to the shooting range, and she would run around and dodge his missiles. He was insistant that she learn how to fight incase of a Decepticon attack. Once, to his amazement, Kitty had tackled one of his missiles, and rode it like a bull around the bomb range like it was a bull.

But the most eventful thing that had happened since her arrival was her discovery of Michaela's iPod.

Kitty ran around the base in her leopard form, searching for Michaela. She stopped in front of her room at the base, Michaela's door was cracked open. Using her nose, Kitty pushed the door open silently and entered the room. She silently transformed, looking for her friend. The walls were a dull gray, and a wall-sized pane of glass replaced the wall overlooking the Autobots hanger. It was no doubt for Bumblebee to find her.

Kitty looked around the room, sensing no sound nor sight of her friend. A low humming caught her ears, too low for anyone besides and Autobot or her to hear. Getting down on all fours, but not transforming, Kitty set out to search for the sounds source. After a quick scan of the bland room, the source was deemed a yellow and black contraption with a small screen and a touch-sensing wheel. Kitty poked the strange object with one of her claws, accidentally hitting the "Play" button.

"_Baby, it a teenage dream tonight!_" Katy Perry sang out. Kitty hissed and jumped back, but when she listened closer, she liked the beat of the song. Approaching with caution, Kitty picked up the iPod and restarted song. After listening to the song a few times, Kitty began to try and sing for the first time. The scientists at Sector Seven would never let her do this, so why not try it?

"You thing I'm pretty without any makeup on." Kitty sang, and decided that she liked it. Little did she know how good she really was…

"_You think I'm funny when I tell the _

_Punch line wrong _

_I know you get me _

_So I let my walls come down, down _

_Before you met me I was alright _

_But things were kinda heavy _

_You brought me to life, _

_Now every February _

_You'll be my Valentine, Valentine! _

_Let's go all the way tonight _

_No regrets, just love _

_We can dance until we die _

_You and I, we'll be young forever!" _

Kitty was singing all out, eyes closed, and deaf to all else except the music.

Michaela had heard someone singing in her room, so she, Sam, and Bumblebee when to investigate. The music and amazing singing seemed to be coming from Michaela's third-story room, so Bumblebee picked his charges and held them to the window. They saw Kitty swaying in the room, singing like no one could hear her. Sam and Michaela gasped, she sounded just like Katy Perry! Bumblebee motioned to the other Autobots to join him. They moved quietly and crowded around the window to listen and watch NEST's newest member sing her heart out. They all seemed mesmerized, but Ironhide was floored. His little friend was _amazing_! But she didn't hear anything, Kitty just kept singing.

"_You make me _

_Feel like I'm living a _

_Teenage dream _

_The way you turn me on _

_I can't sleep _

_Let's run away and _

_Don't ever look back _

_Don't ever look back _

_My heart stops _

_When you look at me _

_Just one touch _

_Now baby I believe _

_This is real _

_So take a chance and _

_And don't ever look back _

_Don't ever look back. _

_We drove to Cali and got drunk _

_On the beach _

_Got a motel and built a fort _

_Out of sheets _

_I finally found you, _

_My missing puzzle piece _

_I'm complete! _

_Let's go all the way tonight _

_No regrets, just love _

_We can dance until we die _

_You and I, we'll be young forever! _

_You make me _

_Feel like I'm living a _

_Teenage dream _

_The way you turn me on _

_I can't sleep _

_Let's run away and _

_Don't ever look back _

_Don't ever look back _

_My heart stops _

_When you look at me _

_Just one touch _

_Now baby I believe _

_This is real _

_So take a chance _

_And don't ever look back _

_Don't ever look back. _

_I'ma get your heart racing _

_In my skin-tight jeans _

_Be your teenage dream tonight _

_Let you put your hands on me _

_In my skin-tight jeans _

_Be your teenage dream tonight! _

_You make me _

_Feel like I'm living a _

_Teenage dream _

_The way you turn me on _

_I can't sleep _

_Let's run away and _

_Don't ever look back _

_Don't ever look back _

_My heart stops _

_When you look at me _

_Just one touch _

_Now baby I believe _

_This is real _

_So take a chance _

_And don't ever look back _

_Don't ever look back.!" _Kitty finished, involuntarily throwing her arms high in the air, a large grin plastered on her face. Silence followed, and she looked out the wall-window. Six Autobots and two humans stared blankly back at her.

_[Well, slap me thrice and hand me to my mama_!] Mr. Gibbs voice sang out of Bumblebees radio, clearing the awkward silence, Thunderous applauds filled the hanger and stunned Kitty. Ironhide reached into the small room, and Kitty scampered into his hand. After she was comfortable in Ironhide's hand, the questions began.

"Where did you learn to sing like that? It was amazing!" Mickaela cried. Kitty began to get nervous, she hated crowds. Ironhide, sensing his young friend's discomfort, raised his hand into the rafters. Kitty seized the opportunity and leaped, landing on the beams and running away. The Autobots, Sam, and Michaela watched the girl escape.

Michaela got an amazing idea. She promptly began to tell the others.

Kitty was sitting with Ironhide, talking about a movie she had been told about and wanted to see, The Sorcerers Apprentice. Ironhide used his Internet connections to outline the movie that his young friend was telling him about. His eyes dimmed as a com link was opened.

_**::We're ready, Ironhide. Bring Kitty in.::**_ Optimus said. Ironhide nodded to himself, and picked the cat-girl up King Kong style.

"Hey, 'Hide. Where are we going?" Kitty called to her much-larger friend. He just grunted in response. Kitty sighed. Her friend was more stubborn than Agent Simmons when he wanted to be. Ironhide, with his captor, entered the next hanger through an Autobot-sized door. All the Autobots, with Sam and Mickaela, shouted "Surprise!"

"What is this?" Kitty cried.

"Well, since you don't have a birthday, we all figured that you would like one! Here's you present." Michaela said, handing Kitty a small wrapped box. Kitty tore that paper off and began to play with it.

"Um, that's not the present Kitty." Optimus said. He was a bit confused at first, until he realized that her cat instincts thought that it was a toy. Kitty walked over to the falled box and picked it up. Carefully, so as not to damage whatever was inside with her claws, she lifted the lid off the box. Inside lay an ebony black iPod, the same color black as Ironhide's alt form. Kitty grinned as she scrolled through the songs they had pre-downloaded. Everything was there.

"Thank you all!" Kitty cried. Optimus leaned down to look the cat-girl in the eye and said, "Kitty, Ironhide has asked to be you guardian. Is that pleasing to you?"

Kitty was thrilled, until a thought dawned on her. "But what about the Lennox's? Don't they need a guardian?" she asked.

Ironhide smiled, he had already thought of this. "No, Kitty. The Lennox's are moving to Diego Garcia, so we can visit them regularly."

"Then, yes!"

After that day, it became a rather usual sight to see a large leopard walking around base with iPod headphones in it's ears, humming along to the song of it's choice.

Author's Note 2: This is the last "fluffy" chapter. Decepticons and Simmons will get introduced!

So, I was wondering what you, the readers, wanted to happen.

A: Ironhide gets in a fight with Kitty, ten the Decepticons attack.

B: There is a Haloween party that Kitty sings at, then the Decepticons attck.

C: Both.

Vote, I beg you, vote!


	4. Chapter 4

**Sorry I haven't updated in like, forever! So, to make it up to you, my readers, I have written my LONGEST CHAPTER EVER! Yayness! Please read and review.**

**By The Way: I SAW A SALEEN MUSTANG POLICE CAR! BARRICADE! **

**Disclaimer: I own nothing but Kitty and the plot. I have a plan to claim Transformers as my own. Muwahahahaha!**

_**Blam!**_

Kitty jolted, scrambling to catch her falling iPod. A roar of lethal rage blasted through the base, and Kitty cringed. Someone had gotten on the bad side of her guardian-who-has-anger-issues, Ironhide. She pitied the poor soul who enraged him this time. He was the Weapon Specialist who took no bull from anyone. Anyone but her, that is. She grinned at the banter they always exchanged. Well, Kitty thought, might as well see if she could calm him down. Kitty packed her headphones into a protective pouch and started running.

Sunstreaker and Sideswipe lay in heaps on the hanger floor, a dazed look plastered on their faces. Kitty ran on all fours over to them. Primus, what was with them and annoying her guardian?

"Slaggit! What did you guys do to 'Hide this time?" spat Kitty. Sunstreaker glared daggers at the organic transformer, and she glared right back at him. They didn't like each other.

"We didn't do anything!" Sideswipe exclaimed. Kitty glared at the other mech, daring him to lie to her. He gulped. "We just mentioned his sparkmate, Chromia!"

"Who?" asked Kitty. Ironhide had never mentioned a Chromia to her, much less a sparkmate.

"Oh, he didn't tell you?" Sunstreaker sneered. "Well, we aren't telling you about her. Go ask the fragger yourself."

"Ok, then. I'm assuming he's outside blowing stuff up?" A massive floor-rattling cannon blast answered her question. With a final glare at the offending twins, they swore she was Ironhide sometimes, she ran of on all fours.

Kitty reached the training grounds to see her ebony guardian blasting away at the targets. Kitty smiled and waved when the targets where thoroughly demolished. Ironhide just stood there, panting slightly, not even acknowledging his mutant charge's presence. Kitty padded over on her pawed feet.

"Hey, 'Hide." She said. He didn't answer her, or even acknowledge her, so she placed a hand/paw on her friends massive foot.

"_What?_" Ironhide snapped. Kitty jumped and recoiled, her hand jerking as if he had electrocuted her. Kitty's eyes watered and her vision blurred. What was wrong with Ironhide?

Ironhide signed bitterly. "Kitty, there is something that I have to tell you, and you will not like it."

Kitty's head tilted, and the cat-girl looked remarkably like a LOL cat. "What is it, 'Hide? Are you going on another mission?" she asked. Ironhide sighed and looked out at the setting sun as it spewed its colorful glory across the sky.

"Kitty, I'm sorry, but I am not cut out for being a guardian. I am a warrior, and I could only hurt you." Ironhide said.

"Nothing you could do could hurt me as much as you are now." The organic transformer spat. She was openly crying now, and every tear that silently slid down her animalistic face hurt him like a blast through the spark.

"Kitty," Ironhide sighed. "I'm only doing this for your own go-"

"STOP!" Kitty shouted. She held one of her hand/paws over her eyes in a fruitless attempt to hide the tears coursing down her face, and the other palm-up toward Ironhide, who had kneeled down to try and comfort his now ex-charge. "Just stop. You sound like Simmons."

Ironhide was floored. She would never compare anyone to the dreaded Simmons, unless she truly hated them. The squishy cat-girl continued, ignoring the hurt look on Ironhide's faceplates. "All the empty promises of no more pain, that no one will ever hurt me. For my own good, is it? That's what they all say, right after they hurt me. You don't want me? Fine, then I'm leaving." And she took off running.

Ironhide watched Kitty run, on swaying all fours, away from him. He sat there and just watched the one being o this Primus-forsaken mud ball of a planet who had wormed her way into his war-hardened spark. Was he really doing the right thing? Or was he just unwilling to admit how much the organic transformer ment to him? He loved her like a sparkling, and now she hated him.

Nice move, lugnut.

xXxXxXx

Kitty ran blindly through the base, searching through her tears for the exit. She couldn't stay here if her only friend turned Simmons on her. She just couldn't take that pain, not now, not ever. She just couldn't deal with the scars, physical and emotional, that Sector Seven gave her. Sadly, Kitty did not see the large yellow foot she was running at.

Kitty tripped over Bumblebee's foot, and skidded a bit, but she didn't care. But 'Bee on the other hand… Bee let out a high-pitched squeal and scooped a sobbing Kitty in his hands. He cooed, and the cat-girl met his baby-blue optics with her own emerald eyes.

_[What's wrong?] _A five-year-olds voice cooed out of Bumblebee's radio. He and Kitty were good friends, not as close as she and Ironhide had been, but still close. Her pain was his pain.

"Bee, do you really want to know?" Said Autobot nodded vigorously. He wanted to know what had upset his little Kitty so badly that she would want to leave. Even he could never have predicted her answer.

"Ironhide doesn't want to be my guardian." She whimpered, fresh tears slid silently down her face. The cat-girl made no move to stop them. Bumblebee was thunderstruck. Ironhide adored the little femme, though he would never admit it. Well, if no one else would, he himself would knock some sense into his aft-headed mentor. Bee opened the communications link.

_**::What the Pit, Ironhide?:: **_Bee hissed through the comm. link, sending the message to Ironhide.

_**::What did I do, youngling?:: **_He replied in a peeved voice. He didn't feel like talking right now, he was trying to make sense of what his ex-charge had accused him of.

_**::What did you do? What did you DO? Slaggit, Ironhide, I'll show you what you did!:: **_Bumblebee sent a recording of the whimpering Kitty- who bore no resemblance to the tough, takes no slag Kitty the base knew and loved- to Ironhide, who promptly blew up a box next to him. It was Ratchet's new needles.

_**::Ironhide, I needed that! Wait, what's wrong with Kitty?:: **_Ratcet butted into conversation, and Bee realized that he had left the communication on public. All the 'Bots had just heard what he had said, and saw the video.

_**::Ironhide seems to have grown tired of Kitty and told her he will no longer be her guardian without consulting any on us.::**_ Bee elaborated. The link was dead silent, but he could hear the lethal rage in the silence.

A harsh set of beeps and flashing red lights, and a scratchy voice screamed "Code D! Code D!" The Decepticons where here.

The Autobots leaped into action. Bumblebee dumped a frazzled Kitty next to the rest of the humans who were to guard the base. But Kitty had no intentions of staying with them. Kitty leaped of the Autobot-sized table they were standing on and began to follow thw bots.

"Wait, Kitty!" Michaela called. "Where are you going?"

"To help out! I may not be Ironhide's charge anymore, but he's still my best friend!" she shouted back. And with that, she was off.

xXxXxXx

Kitty ran out of the base, and the front tarmac was a battlefield. Optimus was facing off with Megatron, Bumblebee and the Twins were attempting to bring down Sideways and Bonecrusher, and Ratchet was running here and there to help the wounded. But worst of all, Ironhide was fighting Starscream and Barricade at the same time. Kicks, punches, and cannon blasts were exchanged as Kitty ran toward her battling friend.

Barricade had managed to grab the mighty Ironhide, and Starscream directed his cannon at his spark. Ironhide, deturmaned to get out alive, missed the small organic form scaling the building behind Starscream.

"Any last words, Autoscum?" Starscream hissed as Ironhide turned away, knowing his chances of escape were minimal.

"NO!" Kitty screeched. Starscream turned, and the cat-girl launched herself at the Decepticon. She clawed his face, optics, helm, anything she could reach. Ironhide whirled on Barricade, his cannon dealing the death shot to the police mech's spark.

Ironhide turned to Starscream, and saw him chuck a helpless Kitty on the ground. He pointed his cannon at the injured and helpless girl, and fired. The spot next to Kitty exploded, the force of the alien weapon hurling the mutant into a lamp post. Ironhide watched, willing her to move, to get up, to tell Starscream "Nice try." in her sassy way. But she didn't. With a roar of lethal rage, the kind only someone who has lost someone they loved can make, he launched himself at the smirking form of Starscream.

"You. Will. Pay. For. Hurting. My. Charge." Ironhide spat. Each word was followed by a punch to Starscream's jaw. He would pay. Starscream kicked the weapon specialist off of him, transformed, and flew away, along with the rest of the retreating Decepticons.

Ironhide ran over to his fallen charge. He picked her up in his behemoth hands, cradling her prone form. She was pale and dirty, a trickle of blood ran down her face. The rest of the world faded away, the destroyed tarmac, the overwhelming smell of smoke, the voices of his comrades yelling at him, wanting to know what had happened. This couldn't be right. This couldn't be the body of the only organic to ever worm is way into spark, not the sassy, smart-aft organic transformer he knew and loved like a sparkling. Then, the truth hit him like a deathly shot to the spark. Kitty was dieing. There was only one meck with the capabilities of saving her now.

"RATCHET GET YOUR SORRY AFT OVER HERE!" Ironhide bellowed. Ratchet looked p from his repairs on Optimus' wounded arm. He sighed in annoyance, and trudged over to his comrade.

Yes, Ironhide? What is it? And I needed those needles you demolished earlier-" Ratchet trailed off at the sight of the prone figure of NEST's kitty. "Primus. Get her to the Med Bay."

xXxXxXx

Ironhide's holoform paced the hallway outside the small room where Ratchet's holoform was treating Kitty. He raked his hand through his jet black crew cut. His 'Terminator' sunglasses hid the worry in his eyes as his combat boot rhythmically thudded against the smooth tile floor. Ratchet's holoform walked out the door. He looked at his worrying teammate, who looked back at the face that was unfamiliar, but yet so familiar as well. The dirty-blond hair, the wide rimmed glasses, the handlebar mustache, the piercing blue eyes all belonged to his best friend, transfered here to his holoform.

"You know, I'm not paying for the new floor once you pace through that one. Anyway, she's gonna be find, you can see her no-" Ratchet never got to finish. The beefy arms on his best friend pushed him aside as he entered Kitty's room. Her prone form lay on a cot, partially covered by a pristine white sheet in the pristine white room. She had a breathing mask strapped to her face, and a heart monitor tracking her heart rate. She was still deathly pale, and her usually perky ears had drooped. She looked so… so…. breakable. Something Ironhide did not like one bit.

Ratchet placed a comforting hand on his shocked friends shoulder. "Come on," he said. "Let's let Kitty sleep for a bit." The holoforms disappeared, returning to their true bodies. Five minutes later, the holoforms rushed back in as the heart monitor reported with a long, drawn-out whine that Kitty's heart had stopped. Only that wasn't the case.

Kitty wasn't even there, and there was no way she could have just gotten up and walked away. Ironhide suspected foul play, and he walked over to the bed. He ran his hand along the hospital-issue sheet. When his hand was closer to the pillow, he felt something rough. Paper. He snatched it up off the bed, and tore it open. There was two scribbles and a crude doodle on the paper, and what they were made out to be sickened Ironhide to his very core.

S7 and the Decepticon insignia.

Sector Seven and the Decepti-creeps had teamed up.

And they had Kitty.

**There! Longest chapter ever done, with the promised action! Ironhide may seem a bit out of character, but I had to have him fit the story. Please review, it's not they hard!**


	5. Chapter 5

"Arrg!" Ironhide roared as he stormed from the room. Tempers were high as the search for the missing member of NEST kicked into high gear, and Annabelle Lennox had just asked Ironhide where Kitty was. Ironhide just couldn't wait two or three weeks to get his little Kitty back, she should be here _now_. Chromia and her sister Arcee and Flare Up had arrived the day before, but Ironhide's processor was somewhere else, somewhere he refused to tell Chromia about.

Chromia sighed and followed her raging sparkmate out of the hanger. She found him outside, watching the sunset that marked the third day of no Kitty. Chromia walked over and stood next to her sparkmate, watching the sunset spew a magnificent array of colors across the sky.

"Ironhide, you haven't told me something. Spill. It. Now." Chromia stated. Ironhide looked at her, sadness and horror haunting his optics.

"Kitty" was all he said. Chromia sighed.

"Any who, Primus tell, is Kitty" Chromia snapped. 

"She was my charge! She was a government experiment in need of a friend, so I tried to be one. I made the mistake of telling her I wasn't cut out for being a guardian, and she followed me into battle and saved my life by attacking Starscream. He set of an explosion behind her and hurt her, then Sector Seven and the Decept-creeps teamed up and kidnapped her and she is Primus knows where, maybe even dead and I can't do slag about it!" Ironhide shouted. Chromia looked shocked, not because her sparkmate had yelled at her, but because he had someone who cared about him on this planet, who he cared about, and she was gone.

"'Hide." Chromia said. He turned away. "Ironhide, look at me." She demanded. He reluctantly looked at her "I've never meet this Kitty of yours, but she sounds like a remarkable youngling. We will find her." Ironhide nodded.

xXxXxXx

Kitty whimpered, curled up in the middle of a small dog crate. She was being carried to some place by a Decepticon, one she didn't recognize. She looked up at hi stiff form, but he turned and glared at her, forcing her to look away. Kitty sniffled. She wanted Ironhide, the mech she looked up to as a father, Michaela, her self-appointed sister, and slag; she'd even take the twins! But she was here, in the very creation point of the nightmares that haunted her nights. Tears streamed down her cheeks and became entangled in her whiskers. Those wonderful care-free weeks at the base where as good as memories now.

The cage jostled, jolting Kitty from her memories. Banachek smirked at her, and Megatron appeared at his side. Kitty hissed, her body morphing into her leopard form on instinct.

"You see!" gloats Banachek to Megatron. "Your Autobot slaying machine." Kitty hissed at the traitor to mankind.

"You'll never get me to do that." She hissed. Megatron sneered his hideous sneer of yellowing metal teeth.

"We'll see." He snarked. Then he bellowed "Bring in Scapel! He has a new test subject!"

The sadstic microscope had skittered into the room and eyed Kitty with a malitious gleam in his optics. He grined and rubbed his hands together.

"Yes, yes, this vill be perfect." Scapel cooed. Kitty backed away into the corner, but the silver Decepticon mech turned the crate upside down, causing the leopard-Kitty to tumble out and transform into her human self. A metal table shot out of the floor, complete with wrist and ankle cuffs to "secure" Kitty. Massive hands reached and grabbed one of Kitty's limbs and hauled her to the operating table. Kitty cried and thrashed, begging Banachek to help her, but he just waved. When she was secured, Scapel jumped to begin working on his new specimin.

xXxXxXx

Pain. Horrific, burning pain that never seemed to end, coming from everywhere. Scapel had cut open everything, he was using one of his little droids to acsess the part of her brain that triggers tranformations. She flashed into her leopard form, then her human/cat one. Each transformation was excrutaiting, and there was no way for her to stop. From what Ironhide had told her about Scapel, he would fix his patients up as he went, but there must be something else in his sick little processor for her. Kitty was fading, and fast.

Scapel seemed to realize that just as Kitty had. He smirked that insane little smirk fo his, and rubbed his bloody hands together, still perched on Kitty's ribcage.

"Bring in the femme body!" Scapel called to some random Decepticon. A large berth was rolled in, pushed by the same silver Decepti-creep from before. Kitty was panting, her eyes rolling up into her skull. Scapel noticed this, and grabbed a cable with lots of little wires coming out of it, which he attached them to different points on Kitty's head. Scapel skittered off of the dying girl and over to the switch. He flipped it.

The cat-girl's body jolted and writhed, and the wired glowed an eerie bright blue. As soon as it began, it stoped, and the body became still and lifeless. The blue energy traved along the cable and settled into the femme body. The femme gasped, her optics shooting open and glowing an aqua Autobot blue, her spark pulsing electric blue energon through her veins. Scapel watched with glee, his gamble had worked! But this femme was too young, barely the size of a teenager in their world, a mere seventeen feet tall. Her armor was black, and there where light blue stripes running up the sides. Part of her leg armor looked like boots, and they came to a point at her knees. Same thing for her arms. She had a sky blue horn producing from her forehead. In a word, she was beautiful. Until she screamed bloody murder.

Megatron stormed into the lab and walked over to the screaming femme, and riped out her voice box. The screaming stoped imedietly, and the femme that was now Kitty clutched her throat. Her optic dimmed as she opened a communtications link to her guardian.

_**::Ironhide!::**_ She cried, hoping she had sent the message right.

_**::Kitty? Is that you? Thank Primus! Where are you? We're coming to get you.:: **_Ironhide sent back.

_**::I'm at the Hoover Dam. They've done something to me, 'Hide. Please, I don't know how much more of this I can take.:: **_She sent.

The connection droped, and she hoped that Mega-dweeb couldn't tell. He was descussing her transformation with Scapel, back turned to her. The femme focused, willing her arms to turn into blades, and to her surprise, they did. From what she though of the Decepti-creeps, they would never willingly give anyone weapons. Oh, well, might as well put them to good use. She aimed, and shot at the massive back of Megatron smirking as he slumped onto Scapel. The shot wasn't deadly, but it was good enough to knock him out.

The femme with Kitty's soul clambered as softly as possible off the berth, grabbed her voice box, and began to run. Left, right, another right, left. The femme stoped at the corner of a deserted intersection. The femme listened, and a rumble of car engines roar steight ahead. That was Ironhide! He was here! The femme ran out, the hanger door was left open-had any of the Decepti-creeps noticed that their boss was out cold?- and came face to face with the Autobots in their vehicle form. She smiled as they transformed.

"Where is she, femme?" roared Ironhide, causing the femme to jump at the wrong end of his massive cannons. "Where is _Kitty?_" The blue femme walked up to Ironhide and tried to calm him down. Ratchet scanned her, and after noticing the voice box in her non-blaster hand, caught on that this was no ordinary femme.

"Ironhide, be reasonable." Rachet said. Ironhide glared at him, but Ratchet continued on. "I believe that this femme is Kitty." The femme nodded.

_**::It's me:: **_The femme that was Kitty sent, and the Autobots froze. Ironhide walked up and placed an arm around the femme, leading her away from the group.

"We need to find you an alt form, and a new name." Ironhide told her. "But first, an alt form." Chromia had followed the pair as the femme sent Ironhide a message. The femme turned to Chromia and opened a private communication link.

_**::So you're Chromia. How do you put up with 'Hide all the time?:: **_she sent.

_**::**__**Well, he's not that bad. So you must be the imfamous Kitty.:: **_Chromia sent back. She smiled. This femme had to be Kitty, baced on what she knew about Ironhide.

_**::I was, but 'Hide says I need a new name and alt mode, and I wanted to get to know you, so I sent him searching.:: **_This made Chromia think. A new name? She could apparently sing better than most singers, and she was now an alien from light years away. A flash of briliance overtook her. Chromia had the perfect name.

_**::What do you think of Starsong?:: **_Chromia asked.

_**::I**__**t's perfect, Chromia! Thank you!:: **_Starsong replyed as Ironhide rolled up beside the chatting femmes, towing an ebony ladybug car with sky-blue accents. Starsong smiled and scanned her alt form, then transformed into an exact replica of the bug car. She transformed back, she was now only fifteen feet high and more slender, but Starsong didn't mind. Now she wouldn't die as easily, and Ironhide would let her into the shooting range.

Starsong smiled at the Autobots, and they smiled back and transformed. Starsong followed suit and drove into the last open spot, in between Ironhide and Chromia. This was her family, no one- not even Sector Seven and the Decepti-creeps- could change that.


	6. Chapter 6

The four, now five, Autobots drove into the main hanger. Sunstreaker and Sideswipe looked from sparring to look at the black and blue Volkswagen Beetle parked between the massive Topkick and sleek motorcycle. Bumblebee walked over to the five Autobots with Sam and Michaela, but recognizing only four- Optimus, Ratchet, Ironhide, and Chromia- that went on the rescue mission to retrieve Kitty. Bumblebee trilled sadly, his cat friend wasn't here. Even the twins visibly sagged when Kitty didn't emerge from any of the vehicles.

"Wait, where's Kitty?" Michaela asked. The Autobots- including the Beetle- transformed. Ironhide and Chromia stood in an almost protective manner next to the newest ebony femme, who looked around the hanger.

"Kitty was found," Optimus began, and looked at the hopeful faces of his human comrades. "But not in the way we expected." The humans sagged, and Michaela began to sob into Sam's shoulder. The couple couldn't believe it. Kitty was like their little sister, she couldn't be dead, she couldn't be!

"WHAT?" Will shouted. "She's dead! You couldn't get her back alive?" He shouted, pointing an angry finger at Optimus. Something grabbed the back of his jacket, hauling him off the ground. Will struggled and swore, until he was dropped into a hand. He turned to find him looking at the new femme. She smiled, even though she was obviously in pain. Will looked at the sparking wires on her neck, where her voice box used to be, and back to her faceplates. There was something familiar about this femme, he felt like he knew her, that she knew everyone at this base. Then it clicked.

"Kitty?" He asked. He didn't say it very loudly, but since the hanger was silent, the single word echoed as if it were shouted. All eyes turned towards the femme, who nodded silently. No one had really thought to question the femme when they found her, and Michaela seemed to think that this femme was an impostor. She stormed up to the femme, despite Ironhide and Chromia's warning growls.

"If you really are Kitty, then what was the song you found playing on my iPod." she snapped. [Baby it's a teenage dream tonight!] played from the radio, the femme had learned how to use the sound blips. Michaela beamed.

"It is you!" She cried, running and hugging the only part of the femme she could reach; her leg. After a few moments, Ironhide pried Michaela from the leg.

"She goes by Starsong now." he grunted. "She's Cybertronian, so she should have a name that means beautiful voice on Cybertron."(AN: I really don't know is it means that.) Starsong beamed, and hugged the gruff weapons specialist, who looked surprised, but then smiled and hugged the femme back.

[Say cheese!] burst from Bumblebee's radio, and four camera phones clicked a snapshot of the touching scene. One wanted it for her friend, the other three wanted blackmail. Ironhide glared at the men, while Starsong let go and inched away, cooling fans kicking in. Bumblebee rushed up to Starsong and grabbed her in a bear hug, lifting her off the ground. Starsong played a sound blip of a child's giggle as Bumblebee let her down slowly. Sam slid from Bumblebee's shoulder and into his hand.

"Thank God you're here. Michaela would yell at Ratchet if he left the monitor that was searching for you." he said. Starsong smiled and nodded. The twins looked nervous, whether it was because they used to be mean to this femme or Ironhide "casually" polishing his cannons, it was never known. They approached the femme, who smiled shyly at them. Sideswipe swung an arm around Starsong's ebony shoulder, and she began to feel uncomfortable when he smiled at her. Sunstreaker shoved his brother off Starsong, and rubbed the back of his helm. An awkward silence filled the air.

"Sooo..." muttered Sunstreaker, who didn't know why he was getting so nervous around Starsong. "Sparring sometime?" She smiled at the golden twin, who grinned back. Sideswipe picked himself up off the ground, then launched and tackled his twin. They brawled on the floor in front of Starsong. Starsong looked nervous, but after a few moments, she leaned over and grabbed each twin and threw them at separate sides of the room. Sideswipe expected his brother to blow up at Starsong for "ruining his paint", and was shocked when the only thing he did was grin sheepishly at the femme, and walk out of the room. Starsong seemed to be uncomfortable with all of the attention she had just attracted. Arcee and Flare Up wheeled over.

"Hi! You must be some femme from what Chromia, she's our sister, told us. Welcome to the club!" Arcee squealed and dragged Starsong off, Flare Up and Chromia following behind their sister, helping the newest femme to find her room. The remaining Autobots and humans dispersed, going to their respectful rooms for the night.

xXxXxXx

In a spare room, an ebony and sky blue femme tosses and turns on her recharge berth. Whimpers emit from her newly-reattached voice box. Clearly she is reliving her time spend with the demonic Decepticon field medic Scapel. Her optics shot open and she sat up, screaming. Starsong clutched her chest, above her spark, panting, trying to rid her processer of the images of her torture at the hands of Sector Seven and the Decepticons. Starsong off lined her optics, trying in vain to get them to stop leaking Energon tears.

A near-silent Swish alerted Starsong that someone had heard her scream and entered her massive-to the humans- room. Whoever had opened the door had walked over to her and wrapped strong arms around her, drawing her shaking body to his. Ironhide thought Starsong. She onlined her optics, and with a shock, realized that the mech who was cradling her so gently and letting her cry on his shoulder was none other than Sunstreaker.

"I-I'm sorry I woke you." Starsong whimpered, trying to pull away, only to have him pull her back into the hug she needed so badly. Starsong wrapped her arms around his torso and leaned her head on his shoulder. Sunstreaker rubbed her back as her sobs quelled to a few sniffles, then he let her go. Starsong scooted a bit farther away, and rubbed the last of her Energon tears away with the back of her hand.

"You shouldn't be sorry, Star. What scared you that much?" said Sunstreaker in a surprisingly calming voice. He seemed truly worried about me, but why?He was always so mean to me before... thought Starsong. Starsong sighed, one of those long-suffering sighs that only are emitted when someone was about to share a horrible secret.

"Scapel. He could cut me, prod me, and stick me with so many needles I couldn't see my skin. It was horrible. He laughed when I tried to hide my pain, smirked with glee when I screamed in agony. It was horrible. It feels like he's still skittering over me, cutting and jabbing." Starsong admitted, shivering from the cold of some of her darkest memories. "It was like Sector Seven, but so much worse."

Sunstreaker was shocked. This was horrible, for someone of only fourteen human years of age. If this were anyone else, he would have scoffed and told them to quit complaining. But this wasn't just anyone, this was the infamous Kitty, the human he found fascinating for reasons unexplained. This wasn't right, what she had gone through. He leaned over and gathered the shaking femme in his arms.

"It's not right, what you had to go through." He whispered in a un-Sunstreaker like way. He stayed there, just holding the human-turned-Cybertronian, until she fell into recharge. He lay her down on the berth, and stood to leave. Sunstreaker stood in the doorway, then turned.

"I'm sorry I was so mean to you." he whispered, and left.

xXxXxXx

Unknown to the two younger Cybertronians in the room, a mech was watching the entire conversation in the room. Ironhide watched as Sunstreaker comforted Starsong, his little Starsong, when she had a nightmare. It was touching, because that mech had never cared about anyone but himself and his twin. Now it seems a third had wormed her way in, and Ironhide was determined to make sure that the little fragger didn't hurt his little femme. He trudged back to the room he shared with Chromia, who lay awake and ready for news on Starsong.

"How is she?" whispered Chromia as her sparkmate lay down next to her. "Did she tell you what her nightmare was about?"

"No." grunted Ironhide, still very much annoyed. "Someone beat me to it."

"What? Who?" Chromia asked. This was turning into something that was completely unexpected.

"Sunstreaker." snarled Ironhide.

"What?" Chromia gasped. "The Sunstreaker we know? Him? Comforting Starsong? Why?"

"Why else? I think he likes her. I don't know whether as a friend or something more. I hope it's just friend. I would have to offline him if it was something more."

"Agreed" said Chromia, and they both drifted off to recharge.

xXxXxXx

Starsong smiled in her dream. Sure, she had just been freed from the torturous hands of the Decepticons, has extreme anxiety issues, and blows up the TV every time that horrendous yellow sponge comes on, but life was good. She had parents who love her (Ironhide and Chromia), a wonderful set of sisters/friends/aunts (Arcee and Flare Up), a wonderful best friend (Michaela) and a grumpy uncle and a calm uncle (Ratchet and Optimus). There were three 'bots that seemed to be fighting for her attention (Sunstreaker, Sideswipe, and Bumblebee). And for the first time in a long time, Starsong/Kitty felt like she truly belonged. A wonderful feeling indeed.

Authors Note: Thank you for all of your wonderful support! This is the last chapter of NEST's Kitty, and there will be a sequel whether you like it or not! Thank you to Tatyana Witwicky for all of her wonderful support!

Please review, I haven't gotten very many! And vote on my poll!


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